diff --git a/java-bigquery-jdbc/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/jdbc/it/ITNightlyBigQueryTest.java b/java-bigquery-jdbc/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/jdbc/it/ITNightlyBigQueryTest.java
index ff9dbf0e7060..f98d6a8d46ca 100644
--- a/java-bigquery-jdbc/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/jdbc/it/ITNightlyBigQueryTest.java
+++ b/java-bigquery-jdbc/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/jdbc/it/ITNightlyBigQueryTest.java
@@ -232,7 +232,11 @@ public void testQueryInterruptGracefullyStopsExplicitJob()
             });
     t.start();
     // Allow thread to actually initiate the query
-    Thread.sleep(3000);
+    // Even when job is created, we might be using `query` API which means if we cancle within first
+    // 10 seconds,
+    // it is similar to Optional job cancellation. Need to wait until after we're in "Wait for job
+    // completion" mode.
+    Thread.sleep(15000);
     bigQueryStatement.cancel();
     // Wait until background thread is finished
     t.join();
diff --git a/java-bigquery-jdbc/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/jdbc/it/ITStatementTest.java b/java-bigquery-jdbc/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/jdbc/it/ITStatementTest.java
index 7094e944893d..35f3284bab1b 100644
--- a/java-bigquery-jdbc/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/jdbc/it/ITStatementTest.java
+++ b/java-bigquery-jdbc/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/jdbc/it/ITStatementTest.java
@@ -331,12 +331,10 @@ public void testSetTimeout() throws SQLException {
     assertEquals(0, statement.getQueryTimeout());
     statement.setQueryTimeout(1);
     assertEquals(1, statement.getQueryTimeout());
-    try {
-      statement.executeQuery(selectQuery);
-    } catch (SQLException e) {
-      assertTrue(true);
-      assertEquals("SQL execution canceled", e.getMessage());
-    }
+    SQLException e = assertThrows(SQLException.class, () -> statement.executeQuery(selectQuery));
+    assertEquals(
+        "BigQueryException during runQuery\nJob execution was cancelled: Job timed out",
+        e.getMessage());
     statement.close();
     connection.close();
   }